WFM Membership Card Pg 9-10 | W.F.M. MEMBERSHIP CARD FOR HANCOCK COPPER MINERS UNION NO. 200 - Western Federation of Miners (WFM) membership card for John Jounikas, initiated into the Hancock Copper Miners Union No. 200 on April 23, 1911; red covers 2 3/4 in. by 5 1/2 in. containing 32 pages; pages on left side are for monthly per capita stamps and pages on right side are for monthly assessment stamps; covers note that this is the only official membership card of the WFM and none other will be recognized; signed on back cover by Charles Moyer, president, and Ernest Mills, secretary-treasurer; front cover notes that members must see that the union financial secretary places a stamp on each month for which dues are paid; stamps cover the period of April 1911 through March 1914 and include both strike stamps and assessment stamps for other unions (This membership card covers the difficult labor period of the Copper Country strike of 1913-1914. The strike officially began July 23, 1913. Represented by the Western Federation of Miners, the strikers were seeking shorter work days, improved wages for both miners and trammers, better working conditions, primarily the elimination of the one-man drill, and improved respect through the recognition of their union. There were a total of 5 locals established by the WFM: Hancock No.200, Calumet No.203, South Range No.196, Mass City No.215 and Keweenaw No.129. By the beginning of the strike, the Union was recording total membership at just over 7,000 men. The first action of the strikers was to try and close the mines, and force the various companies to sit down and bargain. They were successfully able to organize and apply some pressure, but with no great results. The strike was the first strike to hit all Copper Country mines. After the first day of the strike, nearly all mines in the district were closed down, with mobs of strikers blocking access to the mines. Miners held daily parades to boost morale and show their strength. The mine owners, organized and led by James MacNaughton, manager of the Calumet and Hecla mining company, called for state governor Woodbridge Ferris to deploy national guard troops to keep the peace. The governor did so, which led to many confrontations, some violent, between strikers and troops. Support for the strike declined as organizers left (or were forced to leave) the Copper Country, the WFM ran out of money, and strikers' families experienced great hardships during the winter of 1913. The strikers voted to end the strike on April 13, 1914. Whereas the WFM reported having 7,000 members at the initial strike vote, only 2,500 members were left to vote on the referendum on calling off the strike. The strike lasted just over nine months, and ended with the union being effectively driven out of the Keweenaw Peninsula. Mining companies required all strikers seeking a return to work to turn in or destroy their WFM membership cards. The fact that this card survived likely means that member Jounikas did not return to work. His card shows the last entry of a strike stamp on Mar. 20, 1914.)